Sliding doors which are dominantly of glass and are downwardly suspended from a roller-track arrangement which couples the door to the adjacent wall or ceiling are currently used in association with walls for dividing interior office spaces and the like, and there is increased demand for such sliding glass doors for use in conjunction with upright walls defined by a plurality of generally prefabricated wall panels which are dominantly of glass and are horizontally serially joined. The sliding glass door is typically supported from the wall so as to be positioned laterally adjacent one exterior side face of the wall, and the door is horizontally slidable in this laterally displaced position between an open position wherein the door overlaps the side face of the wall adjacent one side of a door opening, and a closed position wherein the door overlaps and hence closes off the door opening. Because of the weight of the glass door and the visibility associated with both the door and the adjacent glass wall panels, and the irregular or non-level configuration of the floor in the vicinity of the wall, the door is preferably supported by a roller-track arrangement which cooperates with the upper edge of the door and couples to the adjacent wall, so that the sliding glass door is suspended from the upper edge thereof and maintained in a lateral position adjacent the side face of the wall. The roller-track arrangement, however, must be able to not only maintain the significant weight of the door when in its opened and closed positions and in any intermediate location therebetween, but also maintain the desired horizontal alignment of the door relative to adjacent wall panels when in both the opened and closed positions.
While numerous sliding glass doors of the aforementioned type have been developed for use in this environment, nevertheless one of the problems associated with such doors has been the size and undesired aesthetics associated with the roller-track arrangement, which size and appearance are readily noticeable and hence have a significant impact on the overall aesthetics of the wall in view of the dominant glass construction of both the wall panels and the door. In addition, many of the known sliding glass doors have not permitted easy positional adjustment of the door relative to the adjacent wall panels so as to provide desired alignment and aesthetics.
In many known sliding glass doors, a typical construction for the roller-track arrangement involves a horizontally elongate track member defined by a generally flat metal plate having a width which substantially exceeds its thickness, and the cross-section of the plate is oriented so that the width of the track member is oriented vertically so as to optimize the strength of the plate due to the loads imposed thereon by the door. The rollers are typically disposed in their entirety above the track so as to be rollingly engaged with an upper edge of the track, the roller typically having protruding side flanges for overlapping the opposite sides of the track to sidewardly confine the roller on the track. While this arrangement is conventional and does provide a proper rolling support and engagement between the rollers and track, nevertheless the overall combination of the track and rollers and their individual sizes and vertical disposition one above the other cause the overall roller-track arrangement to be of significant height. Further, this roller-track arrangement is typically positioned within a downwardly-opening channel-shaped confinement member which also must be of significant vertical height in order to confine both the rollers and the track therein. As a result, the overall roller-track arrangement is significantly cumbersome, particularly with respect to its overall vertical height, and this greatly detracts from the desired overall appearance and aesthetics of the door-wall arrangement, particularly since visibility of the roller-track arrangement is effectively accentuated by the overall glass construction of both the door and the adjacent wall panels.
In addition, known roller-track arrangements, such as arrangements of the type discussed above, have typically coupled the track to the adjacent wall by support brackets which typically are designed to provide limited vertical adjustment of the track. With this type of vertical adjustment capability, however, the manual manipulation required to effect vertical adjustment is typically difficult to carry out. Further, and more significantly, such adjustment results in simultaneous adjustment of both the track and roller, and does not permit vertical adjustment of the roller independently of the track.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved sliding glass door arrangement for use in conjunction with a door opening formed in an interior upright wall which is preferably defined primarily by upright wall panels which are also dominantly of glass, including an improved roller-track arrangement which provides improved cooperative and aesthetic relationships with respect to suspension of the sliding glass door adjacent one lateral side of the upright wall, and which overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with prior constructions of this general type as briefly discussed above.
More specifically, with the present invention, the sliding glass door has a pair of rollers mounted adjacent the upper corners thereof, which rollers are cantilevered rearwardly and cooperate with a horizontally elongate support track which spans horizontally across the upper edge of the door opening and also extends horizontally across an adjacent upright wall panel to enable the door to be moved into an opened position wherein it is disposed in laterally overlying relationship to the adjacent wall panel. The track is defined by a horizontally elongate rail member having an upright leg which overlies and is rigidly joined to a top load-bearing frame arrangement which extends across the top of the door opening. The rail member also has a support leg which is horizontally cantilevered outwardly and defines thereon a horizontal lengthwise-extending guide track, preferably an upwardly-opening guide groove, which cooperates with the rollers to provide sideward confinement of the rollers while allowing them to be rollingly displaced lengthwise of the rail member. The rollers are mounted on bracket structures which secure to the door adjacent the upper edge thereof, whereby the rollers are disposed adjacent the rear side of the door and disposed above the horizontal leg of the rail and do not protrude significantly above the rail member. The overall height of the roller-track arrangement and of the structure defining such arrangement, as it extends across the upper edge of the door opening and the adjacent wall panel, is minimized so as to provide significantly improved aesthetics.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved roller-track arrangement for a sliding glass door, as aforesaid, which cooperates with a generally inverted U-shaped frame which defines the door opening, a top header of the door frame being rigidly joined to the rail member for supporting the loads thereof, which loads are transmitted downwardly along vertical side legs of the door frame for efficient transfer to the floor, thereby minimizing structural connection and/or transfer of loads either to the adjacent wall panels or to the ceiling.
In the improved roller-track arrangement of this invention, as aforesaid, the bracket which couples the individual rollers to the door also have capability of permitting vertical adjustment of the upper edge of the door relative to the roller, which adjustment can be easily and efficiently carried out in a manner which is wholly independent of the mounting of the track to the associated support frame. The improved roller-track arrangement, as aforesaid, is also believed to provide improved durability, particularly with respect to impact loads which are typically imposed on the door during opening and closing thereof, and additionally includes structural and functional relationships which are believed to provide significantly improved characteristics with respect to its overall structure, performance and aesthetics, as described in greater detail hereinafter.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with constructions of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly,” “downwardly,” “rightwardly,” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “upwardly” and “downwardly” will also be used in their conventional sense to indicate the orientation of the wall structure and door assembly relative to the floor and ceiling with which they are associated. The words “front” or “outer” will be used to reference the exposed side of the door which is always visible, irrespective of whether the door is in its open or closed position, and the words “back” or “inner” will be used to refer to the side of the door assembly which directly confronts and overlaps the wall when the door is in an opened position. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of any referenced assembly or any referenced part thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.